Gaya: An estimated 60 per cent of the nearly 70,000 registered holdings under Gaya Municipal Corporation do not have access to tap water, said Lalji Prasad, a former member of the corporation’s standing committee.
Water comes last on the priority list of the municipal body, Prasad added.
The town population, as on date, is estimated to be nearly 6 lakh.
As per the 2011 census figures, the town’s population was 4.7 lakh.
When The Telegraph asked municipal commissioner Janardan Agrawal on the veracity of Prasad’s claims, he said the figures were not readily available with him and work was in progress to execute chief minister Nitish Kumar’s promise of drinking water to all households.
"A couple of years back, Patna High Court had directed the Gaya Municipal Corporation to prepare a detailed plan for providing tap water to all the residents of the town and submit it to the state government for approval," said RTI activist Brajnandan Pathak, the petitioner of a PIL filed on the issue two years back.
The direction was given by a bench comprising Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh.
Agreeing with Prasad’s estimate, Pathak said most of the colonies that came up during the past five decades, including Shastrinagar, New Karimganj, Magadh Colony and Nagmatia Colony, do not have access to tap water.
Deprived of municipal water supply, the residents have to depend on private sources like tube wells and submersible pumps to lift ground water for use.
On account of irregular rain and excessive withdrawal, the ground water level too has registered a sharp fall.

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) in the Upper East Region increased access to potable drinking water for communities from 32 per cent in 2016 to 67 per cent in the 2017 season.
It targeted to serve about 1.4 million people with potable drinking water but could serve only about 946,568 people in the region following some technical concerns.
Mr John Godson Aduakye, Acting Regional Director of the CWSA disclosed these in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga and said CWSA provided about 3,700 boreholes, 512 hand dug wells, 17 limited mechanised schemes and 23 conversional pipe lines within the same period.
He said per the Agency’s water distribution standards, about 300 people were expected to share one borehole in every community in the region and indicated that it was not fair for one to travel more than 500 metres to have access to water.
The Acting Regional Director said as part of its mandate in ensuring good health, the agency established Health Clubs in some selected Basic Schools across the region on hand washing to promote good and hygienic lifestyles.
He said the Agency had considered and factored into its activities the construction of public toilets at border areas in the region to contain the practice where travellers resorted to open defecation around the country’s frontiers.
He appealed to Landlords to construct household toilets in their homes and avoid open defecation and said the practice was responsible for most of the water borne diseases in the region.
The Chief Extension Service Specialist at the CWSA, Mr Emmanuel Adii said a survey conducted in 2014-2015 to ascertain whether services rendered were still actively in use, revealed that out of the 3,700 water sources extended to communities, about 820 were broken down.
He said water was not only of social importance, but also of economic importance and urged communities to adopt the culture of maintenance and ensure that they regularly maintained their facilities to prolong their life-spun.
Source: GNA

The Martin County Water District runs the system that has about 3,500 customers.
Gov.
The Appalachian Regional Commission also pledged an additional $1.2 million.
The work will include installing a secondary water intake in the Tug Fork River, upgrading the Crum Reservoir dam, installing a new water line from intake to the dam, and making improvements to the district’s water treatment plant, the elected officials said.
“We have listened to the concerns of the local community, and the grant and corresponding project plan will provide assistance and address needed repairs and improvements within the local water district,” Bevin said in a written press release.
0:56 Liquor regulation changes ‘would eliminate a family-owned business’ Video Link Embed Code Facebook Twitter Email Martin County resident BarbiAnn Maynard blames poor water quality for the cancer that killed her mother.
“While Martin County’s aging water system is in dire need of a gamut of repairs, this funding is a big step in the right direction and helps ensure the people of Martin County will soon have a more reliable, sustainable source of clean drinking water that will include a modernized monitoring system to help prevent future emergencies,” Rogers said.
“Everyone across the country should have access to clean drinking water.
“Over the last 30 years, we’ve expanded water systems in every county to make sure every day needs are met in Eastern Kentucky.
As systems age and deteriorate, like the one in Martin County, we must remain vigilant to prevent prolonged water outages.” The water district has previously refuted some of the customers’ claims, saying the water is clean and safe to drink.

DRINKING water fountains outside Optus Stadium are contaminated with lead, according to tests conducted by The Sunday Times.
At one fountain, there was also a nickel concentration above the 0.02mg/L guideline maximum for that metal.
The Sunday Times sampled water from five of the new drinking fountains in Stadium Park on February 14.
The control samples, which were handled in the same way as the fountain water samples, returned zero contaminants.
“The waters which come out of these fountains are contaminated with lead,” he said.
VenuesWest said the drinking water system at Optus Stadium and Stadium Park was professionally tested and commissioned prior to Technical Completion in November 2017 and February 2018.
“Additional sampling and testing of the potable water in the stadium and surrounding park was undertaken last Friday, 16 February 2018.
“All samples from both the November and February tests were tested for Organics, Inorganics, Metals, Ions, Physical Parameters and Microbiology, with the total lead concentration results ranging from 0.001 mg/L in the scheme water sample to one fountain reporting 0.003 mg/L, all well below the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines’ maximum acceptable concentration guideline for lead of 0.010 mg/L.
We took water samples from five drinking fountains, taking care not to touch the lip of the sample bottles against the metal of the fountain taps.
After completing the sampling, we sealed the esky and drove it back to Eurofins.

Dayton has shuttered two Mad River well field drinking water production sites over fears of the potential for contamination from a firefighting foam contaminant that could eventually threaten dozens of additional groundwater wells, a city leader said.
Dayton stopped pumping drinking water at seven groundwater wells at the Huffman Dam well field last April where an early warning groundwater monitoring network showed per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances city officials believe were part of a contamination plume migrating from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The two sources of separate contamination could eventually poise a threat to dozens of city groundwater wells in the Mad River well field, Dayton authorities said.
The Huffman Dam and Tait’s Hill well fields — more than three miles apart — are the “bookends” of the city’s Mad River well field system that counts more than 60 groundwater drinking wells, officials said.
If Dayton detects PFAS contamination over the threshold level of 70 parts per trillion in monitoring well between the fire training site and the operating production wells, it must alert the Ohio EPA and sample the production wells closest to the contamination, Butler added.
Dayton also must determine if the firefighting training site is the source of detected PFAS levels of less than 10 parts per trillion at the Ottawa treatment plant by submitted a work plan by April 30, Butler wrote.
A May 2017 sampling of groundwater monitoring wells at Tait’s Hill found at least one sample registered 1,200 parts per trillion – similar to hot spots found inside Wright-Patterson, Dayton officials said.
The Environmental Protection Agency health advisory threshold for lifetime exposure in drinking water is 70 parts per trillion.
A city-owned early warning system of monitoring wells at Huffman detected at least one sample with 35 parts per trillion of the contaminant, according to the city.
“It warns us in enough time that we can mitigate a problem before it actually reaches the (drinking) production wells.” Dickstein outlined the two sources of contamination in a Feb. 21 letter sent to city managers.

PESHAWAR: MOL Pakistan Oil & Gas Company has spent over Rs90 million to date to ensure provision of clean drinking water to the less developed districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Karak, Hangu, Bannu and Kohat.
According to a press release, MOL Pakistan has funded and executed several water supply schemes including the installation of hand pumps, installation of wells and supply of water through bowsers in far-flung areas of the said districts.
Water supply to Nizrab Banda, one of the most underdeveloped villages of Hangu, is one of such examples where MOL Pakistan has single-handedly completed the project.
Citing serious water-borne illness among residents of most of the villages located along the Bannu-Kohat road for lack of access to clean drinking water, MOL Pakistan conducted an Electrical Resistivity Survey (ERS) in the area.
It was done in coordination with the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Karak.
An open well was dug that catered to the needs of thousands and provided them access to clean drinking water.
After completion, the scheme was handed over to Public Health Engineering Department.
On the request of local community of the Hoti Banda village in Kohat, MOL Pakistan conducted a detailed assessment in coordination with government authorities and after analysing the ground situation, the scheme was approved, executed and handed over to Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) for future operations and maintenance.
In the far-flung areas of Karak where the situation worsens during summers, MOL Pakistan in collaboration with Karak’s district government sponsored the unconventional scheme of water supply using bowsers.
The makeshift arrangement catered to this most urgent need of the locals at several locations in the TAL Block and greatly appreciated by the local communities.

Water supply to Nizrab Banda, one of the most underdeveloped villages of Hangu was one of such examples where MOL Pakistan has single-handedly completed the project.
Citing serious water-borne illness among residents of most of the villages located along the Bannu-Kohat Road due to lack of access to clean water, MOL Pakistan conducted an Electrical Resistivity Survey (ERS) in the area in coordination with the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Karak.
An open well was installed that has catered to the needs of thousands and provided them undisrupted access to clean drinking water.
After completion, the scheme was handed over to Public Health Engineering Department.
On request of local community of the Hoti Banda village in Kohat, MOL Pakistan conducted a detailed assessment in coordination with government authorities and after analysing the ground situation, the scheme was approved, executed and handed over to Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) for future operations and maintenance.
In the far-flung areas of Karak where the situation worsens during summers, MOL Pakistan in collaboration with Karak’s district government sponsored the unconventional scheme of water supply using bowsers.
“MOL Pakistan’s commitment to social welfare was example of a corporation helping society and those in dire need.
Whereas many companies see their CSR obligations as a burden, MOL Pakistan has always gone above and beyond the legal requirements to assist people in need.
This benevolence is essential for progress and Pakistan needs more generous benefactors to continue to develop as a nation,” the statement concluded.
Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2018.

Congressman Greg Gianforte recently introduced the Clean Water for Rural Communities Act, legislation if passed it will improve Montana’s rural water infrastructure.
“The Clean Water for Rural Communities Act will better ensure more than 20,000 Montanans in our rural communities have a steady supply of water.” The Clean Water for Rural Communities Act authorizes the Dry-Redwater Regional Water System and the Musselshell-Judith Regional Water System, which are two Bureau of Reclamation rural water projects.
Gianforte’s new measure will provide water treatment to 22,500 residents in Dawson, Fergus, Garfield, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, McCone, Musselshell, Prairie, Richland, Wheatland.
Leaders of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority and the Central Montana Regional Water Authority praised Gianforte’s effort to complete crucial rural water infrastructure projects in Montana.
“The Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority’s users in Eastern Montana have waited for the processes in Washington to work for them and bring quality drinking water to the area.
Thirteen years ago, DRWA asked for assistance from the federal government to help provide clean, safe water.
Trillions of dollars have been dispensed from Washington since, yet still we wait for authorization of our water system,” said Jerry Meissner, chairman of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority.
“We are thankful for the help of Congressman Gianforte and for his introduction of legislation supporting our efforts.
It is time for Congress to pass this bill to authorize this Water System and help our president build infrastructure.” “After more than 12 years of preparation and completing the planning required by the Rural Regional Water Act, after spending more than $4 million, after approval of our planning process and findings by the Bureau of Reclamation, and after multiple other attempts to gain congressional authorization of our project, we are hope Congressman Gianforte’s efforts will finally result in authorization of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water Project,” said Monty L. Sealey, project administrator with the Central Montana Regional Water Authority.
We appreciate Congressman Gianforte’s resolve to see this legislation enacted into law.” Dominick

The notion that bottled water is cleaner and safer than tap water is a fallacy.
According to a new report released by Food and Water Watch, “Take Back the Tap,” 64 percent of bottled water is sourced from municipal water taps and is no healthier than tap water.
Unknowingly, American’s are paying $16 billion a year to drink water from a bottle that would otherwise be free, or cost a fraction of the price if U.S. household drank from their tap – “a gallon of bottled water costs $9.50” which is “nearly 2,000 times the price of tap water for municipal taxpayers,” according to EcoWatch.
“When bottlers are not selling municipal water, they are pumping and selling common water resources that belong to the public, harming the environment, and depleting community water supplies,” the study concluded.
The bottled water companies and lobbying groups for the industry have come up with a marketing scheme that promotes bottled water as safer, healthier and cleaner than tap water.
But according to the report, this information is misleading.
The study found that drinking water from the tap is more safe because municipal tap water is under scrutiny of the federal government, which places more requirements and safety monitoring that it does on company’s manufacturing bottled water.
The report pushes the government to pass the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability (WATER) Act in order to “dedicate federal funds to renovate the nation’s public water infrastructure to ensure renewed public confidence in tap water, and avert a water affordability crisis,” according to EcoWatch.
“The WATER Act will simultaneously deliver water justice to the millions of people in the United States who lack access to safe water, while creating nearly a million jobs,” the report stated.

WorldStage Newsonline— As part of efforts to safe guard the quality of water supply across the country, the Federal Government on Thursday unveiled the Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) to protect Nigerians from consuming contaminated water.
Speaking at the event in Abuja the Minister of Water Resources, Engr.
Suleiman Adamu said the ministry has been assigned the responsibility of enforcement.
He noted that not much had been done in respect to enforcement of standard with water producers, carrying on with business without regard for the quality.
Adamu said: “This issue precipitated the reassignment of role of stakeholders during the review of the standard in 2015 by the Technical Committee.” He said the ministry was committed to upgrading the water quality laboratories located in Lagos, Akure, kano, Minna, Enugu, Gombe, Maiduguri, Sokoto, makurdi, Umuahia, Asaba and Port Harcourt.
He identified clean water as one of the important determinant to good health adding that, about 60% of diseases in developing countries are related to unsafe water supply and inadequate sanitation.
The minister said according to World Health Organisation (WHO), “diseases related to drinking water contamination represent a major burden on human health and interventions to improve the quality of drinking water provide significant benefits to the health and well being of the people.” Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Dr. Musa Ibrahim said much progress has been made in providing water supply facilities in Nigeria.
Ibrahim said: “According to data from 2016 multiple indicator cluster survey 5 (MICS 5), access to improved drinking water supply sources is estimated at 64.1% in the country.
Giving the scale of the challenge, this is highly remarkable achievement.” He noted that the quality of water is highly compromised during collection, trough transport to point of use, so that for the same period the percentage access to safe drinking water is 32.1%, adding that the NSDWQ NIS-554-2015 will improve quality of water consumption.
Director General Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Osita Aboloma, represented by the Deputy Director SON, Mrs. Elisie Ofili emphasized the use of that NSDWQ by all stakeholders in the water supply sector.